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Grappling with the Sun Devils

Arizona State is headed to town for a Friday evening showdown with the #8 Cyclones. Maybe they'll bring some spare co-eds.

Iowa State Daily

Having wrapped up the conference dual season with a 29-7 win over West Virginia in Morgantown, the Cyclones return to Hilton on Friday night to take on Arizona State in the first of two duals this weekend.  Much like West Virginia, Arizona State is a program in the first year of a new coaching staff with lots of promise for the future, but they currently have a few holes in their lineup. Despite these holes, this dual will feature several good matchups, with the bouts at 149 & 174 being chances for Gabe Moreno & Lelund Weatherspoon to pick up top ten victories, and the matches at 141 & 157 being chances for Dante Rodriguez & Luke Goettl to solidify their shakey NCAA resumes.

Where: Ames, IA
When: Friday, February 13th, 7PM CST
Liveblog: Available here
Video: Cyclones.TV (Subscription or Mediacom required)

I finally got around to setting up a twitter account.  I'll be posting results @GrappleCy for anyone who is interested.

Projected Lineups

Weight Iowa State Cyclone Wrestler Record - Arizona State Sun Devils Wrestler Record
125 UR/30 Kyle Larson 17-11 vs. UR/32 Ares Carpio 12-10
133 3/6 Earl Hall 22-4 vs. Judson Preskitt 2-14
141 UR/26 Dante Rodriguez 14-5 vs. UR/25 Matt Kraus 17-9
149 14/11 Gabe Moreno 22-5 vs. 9/10 Christian Pagdilao 17-2
157 UR/27 Luke Goettl 17-6 vs. UR/29 Oliver Pierce 15-5
165 3/4 Micheal Moreno 18-2 vs. Jacen Petersen 9-12
174 12/11 Tanner Weatherman 19-7 vs. UR/25 Ray Waters 18-5
184 16/17 Lelund Weatherspoon 15-2 vs. 6/4 Blake Stauffer 26-1
197 2/3 Kyven Gadson 20-1 vs. Josh DaSilveira 23-12
HWT Quean Smith 13-10 vs. UR/28 Eskram 15-12

Rankings from Intermat / 1-22-15 Coaches Panel

Key Matches

141: Dante's win over Morales last weekend gave him the quality win he needed to stay in the coaches panel rankings.  Now all he needs to do is avoid a letdown against Kraus.  Dante doesn't need to make a statement with a major or a pin, he just needs to take care of business and get a W.

149: This is arguably the marque match of the meet and a chance for Gabe Moreno to prove whether he should be in the argument for a top ten seed in St. Louis and a place in the All American conversation. 

157: Goettl is riding right along the edge of NCAA qualification, with no real quality wins but also not many bad losses.   Much like Dante, he can't afford any more losses as the regular season draws to a close.  Oliver is coming in hot off a 5-0 performance last weekend at the Edinburo Open and also needs a win here to keep himself alive for a spot.  These guys might not be contenders for the podium next month, but they both have a lot riding on the outcome of this match.

For a full breakdown of common opponents for each matchup, check out WrestleStat's lineup comparison for the dual.

Prediction

Despite being unranked as a team, Arizona State matches up very well against the Cyclones and I could easily see each team winning five matches.  But I think Iowa State has the edge in bonus point potential.  Baring any upsets or pins I'd put this one down as a close 17-15 win for the Cyclones.  If ISU is able to get slight upset wins at 125 and/or 157 that could open the score up much more in the home team's favor.

Thank You Gift For Reading This Far

I heard they might be at the meet.

Next up

UNI will be making the short trip over to Ames for a dual on Sunday, February 15th at 2PM CST